Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Olivier Giroud will miss a lengthy part of the 2014/15 season.
The French striker sustained an ankle injury moments after scoring in the weekend's 2-2 draw with Everton and has since undergone surgery which will keep him out until the New Year.
"The news is that he had surgery today and the surgery went well but he will be out - maybe to be competitive at the top, top level - until the end of December, beginning of January," Wenger told Sky Sports after the Gunners progressed to the Champions League group stage courtesy of a 1-0 win over Besiktas.
Wenger was quizzed on whether or not Arsenal would look to bring in a replacement for Giroud before the summer transfer window shuts at the end of August but indicated that perhaps there were enough players of worth already in his squad.
"We will try to look around but we want quality and we have quality," he added. "I bought Sanchez to be a striker and I think (Theo) Walcott can be a good striker as well.
"(Yaya) Sanogo can be a good striker, (Lukas) Podolski can play there and (Joel) Campbell if you ask what he is, he's a striker. They are players of quality and we will see.
"We will concede in England that every time you have a problem you can't just buy. After the first of September you still have to live with it."
